A medical detection dog has prevented a woman from suffering more than 5,000 potentially fatal seizures.

Alice Halstead, from Embsay, North Yorkshire, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when she was just 15.

She spent three years in hospital to cope with her repeated fits, which were caused by her body's fluctuating blood-sugar levels.

Doctors didn't expect her to live past 18 as they battled to keep a grip of her condition.

But after her condition began to improve six years ago, she began to look into the possibility of getting a medical detection dog.

She eventually adopted Holly, who is able to predict seizures by smelling a change in her blood sugar levels, who has helped transform her life.

Alice Halstead was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when she was just 15 and spent three years in hospital battling to stay alive. When she was released, she adopted a medical detection dog, which she says has prevented more than 5,000 deadly seizures

Miss Halstead, now 25, who was released just before Christmas five years ago with no GCSEs and needing a full-time carer, said: 'I'd never liked animals, but as soon as Holly came into my life we were best friends.

'In five years of having her, I've had zero paramedic call outs, and I've managed to finally complete my GCSEs.